The Westmeath team that defeated Kilkenny in the Leinster Juvenile Combined Colleges Hurling Final last weekend.
By John Harrington
The vibes are positive in Westmeath GAA right now both on and off the pitch.
The county senior footballers have won four from four in the Allianz Football League and a youthful county senior hurling team featuring a clutch of players still in the U-20 grade performed well in their last two matches against Limerick and Tipperary.
The county’s Coaching and Games Development programme is humming nicely under the watchful eye of Darren Magee and the county’s development squads and underage competitions have been seriously boosted by the significant sponsorship of Westmeath expats, Michael and James Stones, who run the successful MJS Building and Development company in New York.
Perhaps most significant of all in terms of the long-term picture is the news that a deal has been struck by Westmeath GAA to purchase 48 acres in Mullingar for a new Centre of Excellence that will, in time, have a hugely positive impact on Gaelic games in the county.
“It's something that we've been crying out for years for in the county so at long last we're on the final leg of that journey,” says Westmeath GAA’s Head of Operations, Patrick Doherty.
“It’s an exciting step forward because we've spent the last whatever number of years with our county teams at every level begging, borrowing, and stealing pitches and training facilities from clubs.
“Indeed, our county senior hurlers use Abbottstown at least once a week so it will mean that we'll primarily be able to train in our own facility. That in itself would be terrific.
“We have a great relationship with TUS in Athlone which we'll certainly be continuing as well. Our county footballers train there once a week and we also have access to facilities and sport science expertise there. But having our own Centre of Excellence would give us our own home which would be great.
“Integration is obviously going to be exciting in the next number of years and the Centre of Excellence is absolutely going to be a Centre for both the girls and boys, men and women of county Westmeath and all the codes.”
Westmeath GAA executive members pictured at the announcement the county board has agreed to purchase a 48 acre site for the development of a Centre of Excellence. Back row (L-R): Matty Conaty, Aidan Walsh, Tom Hunt, Patrick Doherty, Des Maguire, Paddy Wallace, Pat Reilly, Marie Lynagh. Front (L-R): Barry Kelly, Keith Quinn, Frank Mescall, and Brendan Shaw.
That last sentiment about 'all the codes' rings true because Westmeath is very much a dual county that has put a lot of time, effort, and finance into developing hurling as well as Gaelic football in recent years.
Uniquely, all of the county’s 47 clubs are sole code clubs, with 32 of them football clubs and 15 of them hurling clubs.
But if you play hurling for one club then you more than likely play football for another.
"We absolutely are a dual county," says Doherty. "If you were to look at our county senior hurling senior team in particular, the vast majority of our county senior hurlers would play club football, and most of them would play senior club football.
“The overlap from our county footballers who play senior club hurling wouldn't be quite as strong, but we certainly have some high-profile players like David Lynch who would be an outstanding club hurler for Castletown-Geoghegan and Kieran Martin more than holds his own for Fr. Dalton's and Luke Loughlin has won county championships with Clonkill.
“They'd be the three that would immediately spring to mind on the county football team but the vast majority of our county hurlers would play club football.
“So even though we don't have dual clubs, we certainly have a large number of dual players to the extent that from now until the end of October when our county finals are played we will alternate football and hurling more or less every weekend.
“We don't have and we can't have football and hurling in the same weekend because we simply wouldn't be able to get a programme played.”
James (back, left) and Michael Stones (back, right) of MJS Building and Development, sponsors of Westmeath development squads, with members of the Westmeath under 16 hurling side.
Westmeath is a relatively small county but it’s an increasingly populous one. In the last 20 years Mullingar’s population has almost doubled in size from around 12,000 to 23,000, while Athlone’s has gone from around 15,000 to 23,000.
Smaller towns like like Kinnegad, Rochfortbridge, Castlepollard, Kilbeggan, and Killucan have also more than doubled their populations in the same period of time.
Urbanisation brings its own challenges but it also spells opportunity too, and Westmeath GAA are working hard to service the county’s growing population.
They’re helped in this regard by the new model of Games Development funding which has allowed them to literally get more boots on the ground to roll out a variety of coaching initiatives.
“It has left us and counties like us in a position where we are able to look at more Games Development positions and we have certainly done that and used that structure to employ Promotion Officers who are working in clubs as well as doing their bit for the county,” says Doherty.
“At the moment we have four Games Promotion Officers and we're hopeful that we'll have a fifth relatively soon, we're in the process of that.
“We also have four Games Development Administrators and that's all led by Darren Magee as our Games Manager so we're happy with how that's working. It's a very positive place for us to be. The finance that's available to us from Central Council and the Leinster Council and the clubs themselves who are supporting the Games Promotion Officer positions has made it so that we can do this.
“It's very positive at the moment and we're building what we consider to be a strong team in that area.
"Our two major towns, Mullingar and Athlone, are increasing in size exponentially. Therefore we certainly recognise that we need to be servicing the clubs in our two major towns quite significantly. That certainly has happened and will continue."
Pictured are members of Westmeath's Coaching and Games Development staff.
Westmeath’s investment in coaching and games development at club level and in their now very well-resourced development squads is bearing fruit on the pitch.
Their U-20 footballers have been very competitive in Leinster now for a few years which is having a domino effect at senior level, and there are some very promising signs for hurling in the county too.
Last weekend Westmeath defeated Kilkenny by 4-23 to 3-7 in the Leinster Juvenile Combined Colleges Final and don’t be surprised if the county’s U-20s make a few waves this year as well.
They were very competitive last year, beating Meath, Antrim, Laois, and then running Wexford very close in the Leinster quarter-final, and there’s every reason to suspect they’ll be stronger again this year.
Six of the current U-20 panel have featured for the county seniors in 2024 – David Williams, Conor Gaffney, Peter Clarke, David O’Reilly, Rian Holding, and Mark Cunningham – so it looks like there’s a seriously good crop of hurlers coming through in the county.
When you look at Westmeath GAA now from top to bottom, all the building blocks seem to be in place now for the county to really push on in the coming years.
The clubs are working hard in both codes, the county’s Coaching and Games Development structure is very well organised, the development squads have great financial support, and when the Centre of Excellence is built Westmeath will finally have a home that should supercharge everything else that’s already being done.
“We certainly think it's going in a very positive direction and it absolutely is very exciting, there's no doubt about that,” says Doherty.
“When we get into a position where this Centre of Excellence development starts it will be extremely exciting to see that building over the next number of years.
“Every journey has to start with a first step and we have the first step taken at this stage.
“Now it's a case of taking the second, third and fourth steps. So, yes, it’s a very exciting time on and off the field.”